Blizzard has announced that they are finally going to do something about keyloggers and other account stealing scams.... charge you more money.
As if the 15 bucks you're shelling out to play World of Warcraft each month isn't enough, now you need to pay $6.50 for a passkey generating device (to be debuted at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Paris) to make sure the company responsible for keeping your information safe does it's job.
Am I the only one that finds the fact that they are charging for this to be rediculous? It reminds me of a common thug who charges poor old granny at the local mom and pop grocery store so that "bad things dont' happen to her bunt cakes.".
WAKE UP people, this is like if you used a valet, paid the guy $5, and when you got back to your car he wanted another $3 or your keys could end up in someone else's hands.
"But what about all the cost for the hardware Blizzard will pay?", yes, yes, I agree there should be a nominal fee, Blizzard isn't a charity after all, and theres also the matter of paying the key generating admin, BUT at this point I refuse to believe that the $6.50 price tag doesn't include yet another heap of profit for the ironically named California video game developers.
I'll tell you what Blizzard, how about you prevent keyloggers, improve customer awarness, and provide stronger customer support. I know your employees are busy counting money, but remember that you used to be a small company too, and us fans are what built you up. Return the love.
Hey Amarquis,
thanks for the comment. My "prevent keyloggers" statement was meant as an overly dramatic statement. Obviously it's up to the user not to install it.
I still cannot fathom that there is no margin of profit included in that 6.50 price. If Blizzard ever releases figures to prove otherwise, I'd gladly eat crow!
"I refuse to believe that the $6.50 price tag doesn't include yet another heap of profit for the ironically named California video game developers."
You can keep on refusing to believe it, but the price of token generators in high quantities doesn't get much below $6.50. Add to that the licensing fees for the server device and the margin closes. It could be they are very close to selling them at cost because they believe the program will reduce expensive support calls.
"I'll tell you what Blizzard, how about you prevent keyloggers"
I can't tell if you are being purposefully inflammatory here, but "preventing keyloggers" is a non trival task.